Session Report – Arden Vul – Session 0.5
Kicking off a new campaign with an established table is largely administrative.
I showed the players around Quest Portal – how to access the Players Handbook I've started putting together for the game, how to use the in-game character sheet, that kind of thing. I also got them a fillable PDF character sheet and a Google Sheets version as well. We're all old dudes – I can live with people using the tool that works for them. I'm trying to break the Foundry/Roll20 mindset where I need direct access to their character sheets at all times.
Instead, I've got a small tracker built in Quest Portal and at the start of a session, I'll just get everyone's HP, AC, &tc. and even that's just there to give me a sort of general sense of the current state of the party.
Character creation was predictably chaotic – we're using a new system and a new interface, but soon enough we had our starting party. A couple of thieves, a fighter, a magic user, and a cleric. We did 3d6 right down the line, of course, and everyone understood they shouldn't get too attached. We're playing this strictly old school
I did think it was interesting that although I gave them a decent summary of the history and peoples of the Archontean Empire in the world of Arden Vul, every single one of them picked a background other than being from the dominant Empire. I love the Sunday Night Dirtbags.
Because this was more of a dress rehearsal and shakedown run than it was campaign kickofff, I picked a well-known module – Skerples' Tomb of the Serpent Kings – just to have something to run them through. I wanted to work out the technical issues, system questions and GM fumbling with procedural shit before we get to the good stuff.
That said, this module did exactly what it aims to do – introduce a very specific play style. We had a PC death in the very first room, and it happened exactly like the author said it would. That, combined with Goblin Punch's Underclock (a mechanic I've been dying to introduce and which, when triggered, resulted in a random roll for a very fun monster picked out of the Swords & Wizardry book*) made for a very fun night where one guy died and the rest of them made very little progress due to general trepidation and low hit points.
They dodged a couple traps, made a little gold, and racked up a paltry amount of XP. The session ended with a skeleton getting surprise. Looks like this week, we'll take that side-based, phased combat for a spin.
I couldn't be happier. This is going to be good.
*Piercers – basically stalactites that fall and spear you from above. Fit perfectly as they figured out how to get down the god damn hallway...